before-dinner skirts...

...from "Mama's Funny Porch Room Studio." Yes, that's what my new little space has been so appropriately named by Adelaide. Oh...I do rather miss my studio, but... there have been so many good things to come of all that rearranging. Just one of those has been Adelaide's Before-Dinner-Skirts, as in "made in a moment of weakness when I really should be making dinner" skirts. The skirts are great of course, but even better has been the making of them - with her leading the way, and 'helping' me in some very special ways (that involve a lot of cutting scraps of fabric and moving pins from one cushion to another) - all in the midst of the play, food, and mess of the space and family around us. It really has been nice. (Trying to make anything more complicated than these skirts in such a surrounding? Well, that's another story...)

It started with that first skirt a few weeks back. Each day of the following week, she requested we make a new skirt. Pleading with me to use my sewing machine to make her a skirt? Um, okay, twist my arm. So the skirts were made - just a quick little elastic waist skirt, she choosing the fabric and ribbons, and helping me put it all together in the afternoon before starting dinner. By Thursday of that week, I tried explaining that maybe she had enough skirts. She paused for a moment, and said, "Maybe we could make some for my friends?" Now, really..how could a mama say no to that budding thoughtfulness? So we made more skirts.

The 'quick little elastic waist skirt', by the way, is actually the fabulous Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt Pattern, available as a free download. I've never really used a pattern to make a simple girls skirt before, but this pattern cleverly uses a ribbon encasing the hemline, making it not only adorable, but even one step easier. Perfect for those right before dinner 'must make' skirts that we all must have, I do think. (Oh, and that sweet, sweet little red riding hood ribbon you see one one skirt - the one in this photo, too? It can be found in Rosa Pomar's shop. I thought you might ask.)

And just so you know I'm not a total pushover, I did draw the line at her request for a skirt made for Banjo. I'm just thinking of the cat, you know.

Comments

before-dinner skirts...

...from "Mama's Funny Porch Room Studio." Yes, that's what my new little space has been so appropriately named by Adelaide. Oh...I do rather miss my studio, but... there have been so many good things to come of all that rearranging. Just one of those has been Adelaide's Before-Dinner-Skirts, as in "made in a moment of weakness when I really should be making dinner" skirts. The skirts are great of course, but even better has been the making of them - with her leading the way, and 'helping' me in some very special ways (that involve a lot of cutting scraps of fabric and moving pins from one cushion to another) - all in the midst of the play, food, and mess of the space and family around us. It really has been nice. (Trying to make anything more complicated than these skirts in such a surrounding? Well, that's another story...)

It started with that first skirt a few weeks back. Each day of the following week, she requested we make a new skirt. Pleading with me to use my sewing machine to make her a skirt? Um, okay, twist my arm. So the skirts were made - just a quick little elastic waist skirt, she choosing the fabric and ribbons, and helping me put it all together in the afternoon before starting dinner. By Thursday of that week, I tried explaining that maybe she had enough skirts. She paused for a moment, and said, "Maybe we could make some for my friends?" Now, really..how could a mama say no to that budding thoughtfulness? So we made more skirts.

The 'quick little elastic waist skirt', by the way, is actually the fabulous Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt Pattern, available as a free download. I've never really used a pattern to make a simple girls skirt before, but this pattern cleverly uses a ribbon encasing the hemline, making it not only adorable, but even one step easier. Perfect for those right before dinner 'must make' skirts that we all must have, I do think. (Oh, and that sweet, sweet little red riding hood ribbon you see one one skirt - the one in this photo, too? It can be found in Rosa Pomar's shop. I thought you might ask.)

And just so you know I'm not a total pushover, I did draw the line at her request for a skirt made for Banjo. I'm just thinking of the cat, you know.

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Greetings! I'm Amanda Blake Soule - mother of five, author of three books on family creativity, and editor-in-chief of Taproot Magazine. I live with my family in an old farmhouse in Western Maine where we raise animals, grow vegetables and make lots of things. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting!